Digitale Audio Systeme HD-Player Model 2
DIGITAL UNIVERSAL PLAYER ENJOYS
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS The Vienna-based firm Digitale Audio
Systeme (DAS) takes its cue from analog music playback but makes
only digital playback devices. Its products combine the sound
quality of analog high-end components with the convenience of
digital. The aim is to ensure non-physical media, whether files
from a hard drive or files off the internet, sound at least as
vivid and enticing as vinyls. The Model 2 is designed as a
fully integrated digital playback device and comprises a hard-drive
player, a streamer, and a DAC, which play all of today’s usual
digital audio formats (PCM as well as DSD) with exceptional sound
quality.
The device can be controlled either the old-fashioned way by
using the buttons on the front or with a smart device. An Apple
iPad is actually included in the delivery as standard, but the
Model 2 is also compatible with Android devices.The masterful
engineering efforts are readily apparent in the use of
exceptionally high-quality components as well as in the 20-kilogram
housing construction that employs a chamber system to minimize any
interference between the electronic functional units. The various
sections of the HD player are galvanically isolated and boast
separate
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THE MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCTS AND DEVICES OF THE FIDELITY VIRTUAL
HIGH END 2020
Digitale Audio Systeme is a small-scale manufacturing company
specializing in the design, development, con-struction, and sale of
exceptionally high-quality digital music playback devices. It
boasts small production runs, an impressive level of craftsmanship,
and a great deal of meticulous development work.
Digitale Audio Systeme | Seilerstätte 30 | 1010 Vienna | Austria
| Telephone +43 1890 70 30 | [email protected] |
www.digital-audio-systems.com
power supplies to create optimum interference-free working
conditions for each unit. The DAC alone utilizes three toroidal
transformers.
Preventing any interference is also a priority for the
structural setup with the DAC configured in a dual mono setup with
firmly chan-nel-separated converter boards, galvanic isolation, and
separate power supplies. That means crosstalk is never an issue.
The R-2R NOS DAC chips used by DAS feature integrated
current/voltage (I/V) conver-sion, so no external output stage is
required for the Model 2. “Since eight DACs are implemented per
channel; they produce sufficient power to drive any downstream
equipment,” promises the manufactur-er. This ensures easily keeping
the signal path to an absolute minimum. All very minimalist and
clever. The DAC has a fully balanced layout.
But along with the XLR outputs, unbalanced RCA connections that
work with high-performance Lundahl transformers are also
available.All this effort results in breathtakingly realistic,
natural, and impres-sively three-dimensional music
playback—reminiscent of the sound provided by the best analog
playback devices. With its pointer-style gauges and its functional
buttons, which are easy to operate even without reading the
operating instructions, the Model 2 successfully manages to channel
all the charm and allure of the golden hi-fi era. The music
machine’s display shows, for example, album covers, blurbs, and
other information about artists and composers, all of which helps
to smooth the transition from the world of analog. Anyone who has
so far been wary of the idea of listening to music off the internet
or from a hard drive will find the Model 2 from DAS to be the
perfect partner. ■
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PROMOTION
